Lance Barber made an unexpected cameo during George Sr.’s funeral on “Young Sheldon” — not only appearing in his character’s casket, but in disguise as a mourner.

In Season 7, Episode 13, “Funeral,” Barber is briefly seen in the background as “Georgina,” who is seated in the pews of the church, wearing a white wig, spectacles, and a purple dress. TV daughter Raegan Revord was first to spill the beans immediately following the “Big Bang Theory” prequel’s swan song, sharing a photo of her TV dad in disguise (see below).

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Barber said he initially joked about undercutting the somber tone of the episode while filming his character’s funeral.

“I’m going to ruin so many takes,” Barber said. “I’ve got a fart machine and a fake mustache.”

But he ultimately decided against pulling pranks during filming, opting instead to play the scenes straight.

“These actors walked up in succession to talk to George and had their moments with him,” he told THR. “I laid there and [had] tears in my ears the entire time. It hit me pretty hard” — a sentiment TV son Montana Jordan shared with TVLine during a sit-down interview timed to the October 2024 premiere of the spin-off series “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.”

“When we were filming [the funeral], it felt so real,” he said. “He was laying there in the casket, and we’d walk up, we’d say our lines, and you could see the real tears coming down his face. It was rough.”

Netflix screenshot; Raegan Revord/Instagram
Barber would go on to reprise George Sr. once more, in a Season 1 episode of “Georgie & Mandy” that saw the Cooper family patriarch visit his son in a dream. When asked by TVLine if Barber would make additional appearances, series co-creator Steve Holland explained that the decision would come down to story.

“As much as we want to have these people back, we can’t force them into the show just for our own selfish reasons,” he explained. “We talked about [distinguishing] this from the Bob Newhart dreams in ‘Big Bang Theory’ where it was much more self-aware, and he would say to Sheldon, ‘I’m in your head, you’re the one saying this.’ We didn’t want to play that same dynamic with George. If we did bring him back, we would have to make sure we found a way that wasn’t just rehashing that version of ghost mentor that we did on ‘Big Bang.'”